Robert Kocharyan

Robert Sedraki Kocharyan
File:Dsc 0049 copy.jpg
2nd President of Armenia
In office 4 February 1998 – 9 April 2008 Acting until 10 April 1998
Prime Minister	Armen Darbinyan Vazgen Sargsyan Aram Sargsyan Andranik Margaryan Serzh Sargsyan
Preceded by	Levon Ter-Petrossian
Succeeded by	Serzh Sargsyan
Prime Minister of Armenia
In office 20 March 1997 – 10 April 1998
President	Levon Ter-Petrossian
Preceded by	Armen Sargsyan
Succeeded by	Armen Darbinyan
President of Nagorno-Karabakh
In office 29 December 1994 – 20 March 1997
Prime Minister	Leonard Petrosyan
Preceded by	Garen Baburyan (Acting)
Succeeded by	Leonard Petrosyan (Acting)
Prime Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh
In office August 1992 – 29 December 1994
President	Georgy Petrosyan (Acting) Garen Baburyan (Acting)
Preceded by	Oleg Yessayan
Succeeded by	Leonard Petrosyan
Personal details
Born	(1954-08-31) 31 August 1954 Stepanakert, Azerbaijan SSR, Soviet Union (Now Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh Republic)
Spouse	Bella Kocharyan

Robert Sedraki Kocharyan (Armenian: Ռոբերտ Սեդրակի Քոչարյան, pronounced [ɾobɛɹtʼ sɛdɹɑkʼi kʰotʃʰɑɹjɑn]) (born August 31, 1954) was the second President of Armenia, serving from 1998 till 2008. He was previously President of Nagorno-Karabakh from 1994 to 1997 and Prime Minister of Armenia from 1997 to 1998.

Career timeline

• 1972-1974 – Served in the Soviet Army.
• 1975-1976 – Labor activities in different enterprises in Stepanakert and Moscow.
• 1977-1982 – Electro Technical faculty of Yerevan State Polytechnic Institute. Diploma with excellence.
• 1980-1981 – Worked as an mechanic-engineer at the Electro- technical plant in Stepanakert.
• 1981-1985 – Worked at different positions at Municipal committee in Stepanakert Town committee of Komsomol Union at the post of the 2nd secretary.
• 1986 – the instructor of Town committee of Stepanakert Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
• 1987-1989 – Was the head of Karabakh soviet party organization of the Silk factory.
• 19 February 1988 – Is one of the Leaders Artsakh movement members of which fighted for secession from Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic and it’s later union with Armenia. Was a member of group “Krunk”, leaded “Miatsum” organization.
• 1989-1995 – Twice has been elected as a deputy of Supreme Council of Armenia, was a member of Presidium of Supreme Council.
• 1991-1992 – A deputy of Supreme Inion of NKR of the first convocation.
• From August 1992 – Was appointed as Chairman of the State Committee of Defense and the Prime Minister of NKR.
• 24 November 1994 – Was elected as a President of NKR by Supreme Union, and in November 1996 in the result of national election was reelected as the President of NKR.
• March 1997 – The Prime Minister of Republic of Armenia.
• February 1998 – After resignation of Levon Ter-Petrosyan was temporally was acting his responsibilities.
• March 1998 – Has been elected as a President of Armenia, 59,5% electors voted in his favor.
• 1999 – was founded The Congress “Armenian – Diaspora”
• 27 October 1999 – Took place a terract in the Parliament of Armenia. Robert Kocharyan personally negotiated with the terrorists and persuaded them to surrender.
• 25 January 2001 - The Republic of Armenia become the member of Council of Europe.
• 2001 – Armenia celebrated 1700 Anniversary of adopting Christianity as a State Religion.
• September 2001 – The Pope Ioan the 2nd paid an Armenian with a official visit .
• 2003 – Republic of Armenia became a member of WTO.
• March 2003 – Was reelected as a President of Armenia getting 67,5 % votes of electors.
• April 2008 – Retired because of the end of his Presidency.
• June 2009 – Has been Elected as the independent Director of “AFK” company system.
• 20 January 2004 – The Republic of Armenia became a member of the group of countries against corruption.
• 27 November 2005 – According to the results of whole nation referendum the constitution of Armenia was reformed.
• In 2005 – GDP became 120% from the level of 1993.
• In 2005 – US State Department recognized the Trade and investing policy of Armenia the most open among countries of NIS.
• In 2006 – Rates of growth of investment (24%) approximately were higher than the same indexes of 1998 (5,2%).
• 7-February 2007 – Was accepted the strategy of National security of the Republic of Armenia.
• 19 March 2007 - Was opened Iran –Armenian Gas main .
• In 2007 – The North Avenue was built in Armenia.
• In 2008 – According to the rating of the research center “Heritage Foundation” Armenia, took the 28th place in the list of the countries, with the most open economic and the 15th place among 41 European countries.

Lebanon, Belgium, France, Argentine, Sweden, legislatively adopted the Armenian Genocide.

• 1998-2007 – Average annual rate of growth of GDP made up 10,5% in 2007 GDP of Armenia over bided the rate of 1989 for 46,9%
• 1997-2008 - Was practically fully renovated the “disaster zone” – towns and villages, which hurted from Spitak Earthquake .
• Large scale reforms were carried through in all the spheres of the vital activities of the country.

Presidency

After Ter-Petrossian's sudden resignation, Kocharyan was elected Armenia's second President on March 30, 1998, defeating his main rival, Karen Demirchyan, in an early presidential election marred by irregularities and violations as reported by international electoral observers. Complaints included that he had not been an Armenian citizen for ten years as required by the constitution., even though it would have been impossible for him to be a 10 year citizen of a republic that was less than 7 years old; however, the Armenian constitution recognized the Armenian SSR as it predecessor state.

During his presidency, several opposition leaders in the Armenian Parliament and the Prime Minister of Armenia were killed by gunmen in an epiode known as the 1999 Armenian parliament shooting.

On March 5, 2003, Kocharian was reelected to the post of President of the Republic of Armenia.

Foreign policy

President Vladimir Putin with Armenian President Robert Kocharian

As President, Kocharyan continued to negotiate a peaceful resolution with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on the status of Nagorno-Karabakh. Talks between Aliyev and Kocharyan were held in September 2004 in Astana, Kazakhstan, on the sidelines of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) summit. Reportedly, one of the suggestions put forward was the withdrawal of Armenian forces from the Azeri territories adjacent to Nagorno-Karabakh, and holding referendums (plebiscites) in Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan proper regarding the future status of the region. On February 10–11, 2006, Kocharyan and Aliyev met in Rambouillet, France to discuss the fundamental principles of a settlement to the conflict, including the withdrawal of troops, formation of international peace keeping troops, and the status of Nagorno-Karabakh.

During the weeks and days before the talks in France, OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen expressed cautious optimism that some form of an agreement was possible. French President Jacques Chirac met with both leaders separately and expressed hope that the talks would be fruitful. Contrary to the initial optimism, the Rambouillet talks did not produce any agreement, with key issues such as the status of Nagorno-Karabakh and whether Armenian troops would withdraw from Kalbajar still being contentious. The next session of the talks was held in March 2006 in Washington, D.C. Russian President, Vladimir Putin applied pressure to both parties to settle the disputes. Later in 2006 there was a meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents in Minsk on 28 November and ministerial meetings were held in Moscow. "These talks did not initiate any progress, but I hope that the time for a solution will come" said Peter Semneby, EU envoy for the South Caucasus.

In September 2006, in his congratulatory message on the occasion of 15th anniversary of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, Kocharyan said "The Karabakhi people made their historic choice, defended their national interests in the war that was forced upon them. Today, they are building a free and independent state." The accompanying message said that the duty of the Republic of Armenia and all Armenians is to contribute to the strengthening and development of Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as to the international recognition of the republic's independence.

External links

• Official Presidential Site of Armenia
• Article at armeniapedia.org
• Robert Kocharyan